Tacoma students star in Earth Day art contest More than 140 students from throughout Tacoma entered this year's EnviroChallenger/EnviroKids Earth Day art contest. Elementary and middle school students were asked to illustrate a positive environmental behavior that they've learned from the City's EnviroChallenger educators regarding surface water, wastewater or solid waste. The themes of the entries received included the 5 Rs, recycling, washing your car on the lawn, picking up trash and protecting storm drains, just to name a few. Art by each of the nine winners and the honorable mentions will be posted online at www.cityoftacoma.org/envirokids<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/envirokids> on Earth Day, April 22. Also, a poster showing all of the winning entries will be displayed at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, the Tacoma Nature Center and several City of Tacoma offices. The winners are: Grades K-2 Division * 1st place, Trey Hanson, second grade, Browns Point Elementary School * 2nd place, Sebastian Bush, kindergarten, Seabury School * 3rd place, Greta Hodges, first grade, Seabury School Grades 3-5 Division * 1st place, Brady Grahe, fifth grade, Lister Elementary School * 2nd place, Julie Dinh, fifth grade, Lister Elementary School * 3rd place, Jade Robinett, third grade, DeLong Elementary School Grades 6-8 Division * 1st place, Rahman Barika, eighth grade, First Creek Middle School * 2nd place, Peter Jacobsen, sixth grade, Jason Lee Middle School * 3rd place, Madalyn Hughes, sixth grade, Visitation Catholic School Prizes for the nine winners include baseball tickets, zoo admission and environment-themed books sponsored by the Tacoma Rainiers, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and the EnviroChallenger program. About the EnviroChallenger Program The EnviroChallenger program teaches free environmental lessons - with a mix of science, social responsibility and fun - to Tacoma's public, private and home-schooled students in second through eighth grades. Students learn about water quality, recycling, protecting Northwest salmon, and how their own behaviors can help make our surroundings greener and cleaner. For more information about the EnviroChallenger program, visit www.envirochallenger.com<http://www.envirochallenger.com>. More information Sarah Tolle, Community Relations, sarah.tolle@cityoftacoma.org<mailto:sarah.tolle@cityoftacoma.org>, (253) 573-2506 Lorna Sutton, Community Relations, lsutton@cityoftacoma.org<mailto:lsutton@cityoftacoma.org>, (253) 573-2352